Stink on the harbour prompts petitions and investigations
Ward 32 PR councillor, Sharmaine Sewshanker and DA member of parliament, Hannah Winkler vouched to spearhead a petition to put pressure on the municipality.
WARD 32 PR councillor, Sharmaine Sewshanker together with Democratic Alliance (DA) member of parliament, Hannah Winkler conducted an oversight visit at Grunter Gulley into the Durban Harbour on Friday, September 17 following reports of raw sewage entering the facility.
The pair vouched to spearhead a petition to put pressure on the municipality and other levels of government to intervene and save important tourism destinations from utter degradation.
“The petition will also include attention to Durban’s famous Golden Mile beaches following a recent sewage leak in Battery Bay that resulted in beach closure, not to mention the ongoing threat to the Blue Flag status of our famous beaches. We are aware of the level of frustration regarding these ongoing issues, and we are going to do all that we can to see some positive outcome to the situation,” they said.
This action comes after continuous complaints from concerned community members who took to social media to report the issue with images showing large quantities of sewage released into the harbour. They have expressed concerns about the health hazard as well as the consequences of a possible block in the filtration system.
The source of the sewage was not confirmed, however, environmentalist and coordinator of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), Desmond D’sa blamed it on the city’s deteriorating water and sanitary infrastructure. “This has been going on for years at regular intervals because the city’s budget has been shifted to major big events and imbizo.”
When the SUN approached the city for comment on the matter, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela said, “Thank you for bringing the matter to our attention. We have a team that is currently winching the trunk sewer in Victoria Embankment trying to find the source of the reported contamination. We have checked and there is no pump station in the area not working that would flow into Grunter Gulley. We are also looking for blocked sewers in the area. We will issue an update once we have found the source.”
